What would you do if a single wrong decision could subtly change your in-game life? Now, what if every decision could drastically change the world around you? In Archmage Rises, players are faced with countless decisions that greatly impact every playthrough in a number of different ways – from life and death to commodity prices and even in-game relationships. If death does come, however, it will be permanent: Archmage Rises’ permadeath system encourages experimentation (and a certain degree of caution!) to allow for endless replayability and short, streamlined play sessions free of travel time and repetitive random encounters.

Growing into a powerful Archmage, the player can explore dungeons, discover artifacts of ancient power, and visit arcane libraries to gain skill in five distinct schools of magic. It’s also possible to customize spells through research (appropriately, any gained knowledge is stored at the player’s very own Mage Tower), craft and enchant equipment – and specialize in fighting, politics, research, and more.

No one will have to go it alone, though: Players can swear fealty to nobles, gain land and estates, invest in town shops, move to a new home – and even start a family (or several!). They can also hire apprentices and minions useful for handling trading or research tasks. (It’s important to select apprentices wisely, though: some might prefer betrayal to chores!)

Story

Early in life, you discover that you have an innate ability to use powerful magic. Born to humble farmers who sacrificed so that you could study at the renowned Magic Conclave, you end up unfairly expelled … and then cast out onto the streets. Alone and with nowhere to go, will you use what you’ve learned to help save this harsh world – or burn it down?

“Dragonlance was a major inspiration for Archmage Rises,” says Thomas Henshell, game designer and owner at Defiance Game Studio. “I always wondered what it would have been like to ‘play out’ the life of Dragonlance’s Raistlin Majere. We’re still in development, but Archmage Rises has already captured the feeling of absolute freedom we get from tabletop RPGs – of being in charge of your destiny from birth to burial – and being able to make meaningful choices in between. Fans of the classic ‘gold box’ RPGs will find much to love, starting with the awesome big box mockups we created for the game!”

Thomas Henshell will be attending CGDC (Christian Game Developers Conference), which takes place July 14-16 in Portland, OR. Thomas will be one of the speakers in the “Future of Game Dev Community” panel on July 16th at 4:00 p.m.

In August, those interested in a hands-on demo of Archmage Rises should be sure to attend GenCon — where Defiance Game Studio will have a playable demo on hand and begin taking pre-orders!

Key Features

Explore a true open world teeming with life, choice, and consequence.

Immerse yourself in a player-driven story that evolves based on your decisions.

Unleash dangerous spells that can have game-changing consequences.

Cast magic to overcome obstacles and explore challenging dungeons.

Enter a new procedurally-generated world every time you play.

Engage in deep political, economic, and military simulations.

Experience a never-before-seen religion/spirituality/worship system.

Availability

Pre-orders will begin August 4th at GenCon. The finished game is due Q1 2017.

Based in Toronto, Canada, Defiance Game Studio was founded by Thomas Henshell (a.k.a. Lord Yabo) in 2014. A self-taught programmer, Thomas worked in the software industry for 15 years — spending the last eight years in mobile. Inspired by his love of all kinds of games (including tabletop and digital), Thomas began building game engines secretly at night — and Defiance Game Studio was born. Team members include Rogier van de Beek (2D artist who has worked on World of Warcraft cards and Pazio’s Pathfinder role-playing game), James Marantette (sound and music), Nic Biondi (design/programming), Michael Uzdavines (design), and Andrew Hoogheem (story and dialogue). To learn more about Defiance Game Studio and Archmage Rises, please visit http://www.defiancegamestudio.com and http://www.archmagerises.com.

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